Chapter 25: A Relaxing and Informative Day
Solestral spoke, "And there we are! We are back to… Wait a minute, why is the tower white in colour?"
The trio awed at Chosen's Respite. It became pristinely white, and the tower's blocks looked smoothly rounded at all sides. The holes that acted as air ventilators and the entrance did not change.
"Do you think Madam Eterna had packed her bag and left?" asked Paul.
"We…should go in and find out," suggested Normad.
The black kitten agreed, "Yeah! Let's go."
They entered the tower. The thin brown book on the golden stand at the middle of the white room and the spiral stairs remained untouched. However, instead of flames that lit up the way on the stairs, it was the glowing blue orbs that had the same luminosity as the flames. Solestral was curious whether 'A Pact Made by Two Worlds' book would be updated. She flipped the pages and saw a paragraph that she had not seen before.
Solestral had brave thorough ordeals to complete her mission. Fortunately, her friends supported her. Thus she was able to get the answers she needed to face Zygarde, the Bottomless One. With her quick wits and her words of wisdom, she had defeated the enemy with her friends and allies. The world was saved. But what would Solestral do?
The black kitten gasped, "It ended on a cliff-hanger? Does it knows that I am still deciding on…nevermind. Anyway, I wonder who is monitoring my progress all the time?"
"That is written by me, for the heroine part that is. I am glad all of you are well." said a familiar voice.
The trio looked at the stairs and saw Eterna climbing down. She smiled at the group and continued to speak.
"You have saved the world, heroine. Thus, I shall remove the All-Terrain Mobility blessing on all of you."
The mage snapped her fingers. Solestral, Paul and Normad felt a veil was lifted from them. Solestral was a little disappointed that she could not keep the blessing as she could explore the world faster if she still had it. However, she knew that she had not much time on this world now.
Eterna saw the black kitten sighed, but the mage decided to continue the conversation, "As you can see, the tower is restored. The tower is supposed to be an embodiment of tranquillity. I painted it black because I hate that colour."
"I see. I prefer it this way," replied Solestral.
The mage laughed, "My taste is certainly odd, isn't it? Well then, I have promised to tell you my story. Do all of you want to rest first, or to listen to my tales?"
"We can do both," the black kitten answered bluntly.
"Certainly. Where do you want to go to get some rest?"
"The one with the pond and the fountain. Paul wants to frolic in the pond," the black kitten winked at the blue tortoise.
Paul was startled when Solestral had mentioned his name. "Umm! Yeah! I…want to relax there."
"He was waiting for…this day to have a vacation, haha," joked Normad.
Paul tried to stand up for himself. "I am sure you want to go there too, Normad!"
The big owl begged to differ. "Oh, no. I prefer to…train in that training room. But I think…there is no need to train anymore. We had finished the mission after all."
Eterna giggled at their conversation, "Oh my, that is rather sad that the tortoise is a target for teasing! Anyway, let's make our way to the second floor."
The group climbed the stairs and entered the room via the black door. The pond and the grass field layout did not change. Paul immediately jumped into the pond and squirted water out of his mouth. Solestral could not help but laughed. She thought of the blue tortoise as a circus performer and expected viewers to applause for his act. Normad snorted as well, but he lied on the grass and took a snooze. He had been tired from all the flying and worrying, so when he finally took a breather, he made use of the opportunity to rest his body and mind. The black kitten looked at the big owl having a deep sleep. She sighed a relief that her friends are finally able to enjoy themselves.
Eterna noticed Solestral's actions. She kneeled down and spoke to her, "It is not easy to watch out for your friends, isn't it?"
Solestral shrugged. "It is another way around. I feel that my friends are overly concern about me."
"I understand. Since your friends are too preoccupied on their needs, I shall tell you the 'exclusive bits' of my story. You can tell them later.
"Oooh! Tell me!" the black kitten replied enthusiastically.
"What I am going to tell you is the last part of my adventure. A being named Necrozma. It was an Ultra Beast that siphoned light out of every being. It did not suck the lifeforce, but rather, the light that keeps a living creature sane and the act and feeling positivity. That prism beast appeared out of nowhere and sucked the light out of the Pokémon. And soon, it targeted the village that I was managing. I was doing my best to protect my friends and villagers from the beast's onslaught, using all kinds of arcane magic in my disposal. However, I was pinned down by the beast, and it drained my light. What happened next…"
"What is it?" Solestral asked excitedly.
The mage displayed a little sadness. "I only remembered that when I came back to, the Pokémon planet had engulfed in black flames… As for Necrozma, I did not know what happened to it. When I looked at my hands, I realised I had become a phantom. That could only be one thing. I had become the True Darkness that created the hellish landscape before I passed away. I had killed all the living beings on the planet."
Solestral responded, "That is…too much for me to take it in. I mean, you weren't conscious before that happened. It could be Necrozma…"
"What I have told you was a lie," smirked Eterna
The black kitten was shocked and furious. "What?! And to think that I believed you. What is the point of telling me this?"
The mage smiled. "I had died a normal death despite the powers I had. However, I have regretted not able to say goodbye to my friends… Anyway, I am glad that your friends and allies have aided you in your journey too. Remember what I told you about having friends with you?"
"Oh, I don't know what to say, but I am sorry that things had become like that. About what you had mentioned about friends. Do you mean that it is good to have friends as they can aid me? They saved me lots of times because I am tack too reckless. Hold on. I had remembered that you said that you came from another world. You are not a Pokémon?"
"Not just that, it is good to have friends that understand you and be with you no matter what choices you made. And to answer your second question, I was a human, like you, travelled to another world to save it."
The black kitten got the idea. "Oh. So that was what you meant. I couldn't understand what you said when we were teleporting that time. So, you were a human from a different Earth? Did you have your memories sealed as well?"
Eterna got up and grinned at her. "Probably not? I was focused on saving the world and controlling my powers. So, even if I had my memories sealed, it did not bother me. Alright, that's is all I am saying for now. Have a good rest, Heroine."
Solestral looked at the mage approaching the lake and said, "Where are you going, Madam Eterna?"
The mage did some stretches and replied, "I would like to soak in the water. It has been a while since I last 'bathe'."
Eterna walked into the pond and began to swim. She was able to swim freestyle despite her gown and her bushy tall. Solestral watched her swim and realised that the mage's swim style looked vaguely familiar, but she chose not to ponder about it and dozed off to sleep. The mage played with Paul in the water and challenged him to a swimming contest. However, the blue tortoise won because of the propulsion from his shell. The mage did not show any disappointment. Instead, she petted on his head and congratulated him for putting up a good effort.
"Paul," said Eterna, "To me, you are a capable Pokémon, and able to take a beating as well. May I ask what spurs you to join Solestral in her mission?"
The blue tortoise replied immediately, "I decided to aid her because, yeah she loves to pick on me, but I can see that even though she is reluctant to do the mission, she did it anyway. Also, she was willing to do it without her memories of being a human… I look up to her for her bravery. I don't know what she thinks of me, but I hope to support her until…"
"Ah… Will you be alright if she returns back to her world?"
"I think…I will be fine. She needs to go home after all. I am sure her parents are worried sick of her suddenly disappeared and arrived in this world.
The mage could sense that Paul was trying to hide his feelings for her. "I see. Well, Paul. Do you want to hear an interesting part of my adventure?"
"Yes, please!" he responded with enthusiasm.
"I was able to warp to Pokémon world any time I want to see Chestnut. He was a Chesnaught with a kind attitude. He was also my closest friend."
Paul interrupted. "Wait a minute. You can warp? What does that mean?"
"I was approved by The One Who Dwells Above. Back to the story, Chestnut was eager to see me every day. He even brought me to many places. Whenever I saw him, I was having the time of my life. But, I will never forget that one time, he remained by my side when I went crazy. That was when I had just arrived in that world, and my power was suddenly released. He endured the pain of my tormenting, and still became my best friend."
"Woah…wow! He was a good friend."
"He certainly is. That is why I have to ask you, Paul. The heroine will appreciate if you can be by her side. This is my female intuition."
The blue tortoise replied, "But she has to…"
"Don't let go of this chance. That is all I have to say. And now, I have something to speak to Normad. Enjoy your swim, Paul."
"Umm, okay, Madam Eterna," bewildered Paul as he still pondering what the mage had spoken to him.
Eterna sat next to Normad, taking care not to disturb Solestral eating her Oran Berry. However, the black kitten still eyed at the mage as she was curious about what she would do next.
The mage shook Normad up. The big owl slowly stirred up.
He said, "What…is…it?"
The mage replied, "Normad, I have news for you."
"Is it important?"
"That depends on you. I have sensed that the seal that binds Mewtwo has weakened."
Normad's eyes widen. "Are…you sure about this? How…do you know?"
"Because I can sense Mewtwo's telepathy and it seems furious from being sealed. Ahem, since the heroine is also listening intently, I shall tell you something wonderful. The author of the book 'The Influence of Dawn and Dusk in a Life Cycle' is written by me. You can feel the similarity of the writing style from some pages from the golden book and this one, aren't you?"
"You…are the author?" surprised the black kitten.
Eterna proudly commented, "Yes. I calculated that the heroine would borrow the book since it is a history book. How do I know the history since the dawn of time? It was spoken by none either than the One Who Dwells Above who governs this dimension. I am glad that my book has guided the heroine on the right path."
"But, how did the book had ended up in my village?" questioned Normad.
"I put it in the treasure chest and left it in Muddy Trench Mystery Dungeon as I know someone will find it and open it. Speaking about treasures, I have one for each of you."
The mage created three small treasure chests and put them onto the ground. Paul walked towards the group as he was intrigued of the treasure chests. The treasure chests were coloured in blue, green and red respectively. They were made of apple tree wood without any golden engravings, but they had a lock that could pry open by a specialist. Solestral knew who to approach to open the special treasure chests.
"I guess that we return to Periwinkle Village then," said the black kitten, "Do you want your book back, Madam Eterna?"
"Please return it to the library instead," the mage responded, "I want many Pokémon to read my book. Have you read all the pages?"
"Noooo. I don't like to read history books anyway."
"Oh, what a shame. Well, you have completed your mission after all, so there is no need to read all of the pages. Alright, I need to go somewhere. Whenever you want to leave this place, just go to the seventh floor. It has already been activated once, so there is no need for me to activate again."
Paul asked, "Is it that important that you have to leave in a jiffy, Madam Eterna?"
Eterna smiled. "I shall see you all somewhere soon."
The mage summoned her staff. She tapped it on the ground and vanished, which startled the group a little. After they had managed to get their cool, they stared at the treasure boxes intensely. Normad decided to break the ice.
"Let's…keep the treasure chests…and enjoy our stay in this tower. I…shall have my shuteye then," and he put his treasure chest in his sling bag and snoozed off right after his speech.
"And I shall go to the fourth floor to gather Berries," said Paul, "I spotted some rare Berries during our last visit here. Solestral, please look after Normad when I am gone."
The black kitten replied, "Okay. I shall stay here with Normad then."
"Thanks!" and the blue tortoise took his treasure chest and walked out of the room.
Solestral carried on eating her Oran Berry until there was no more left. Then, she placed her treasure chest in her backpack and walked over to the pond to see her reflection. She sighed.
"I guess that I won't see myself in this form soon."